


How to charm your soulmate

by itsallaboutflowermetaphors



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Armin and Sasha are minor characters, As is Hitch, Barista Jean, M/M, Soulmate Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 11:58:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8978755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsallaboutflowermetaphors/pseuds/itsallaboutflowermetaphors
Summary: “Caramel frappuccino for Marco.”Marco froze. This was not supposed to happen. He had just heard the words he had hoped not to hear for another few years. Marco Bodt stood in the middle of the crappy coffee shop on the campus of Trost University when a stranger called out the order he always avoided to place. He had just heard his soul words. In which Marco doesn't want a soulmate and Jean chases after him.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [snow_queen16](https://archiveofourown.org/users/snow_queen16/gifts).



> For @snow_queen16  
> It was a lot of fun to write but also very challenging to write this fanfic. This is the longest fic i wrote so far and while it might not be much i hope you like it.

“Caramel frappuccino for Marco.”  
Marco froze. This was not supposed to happen. He had just heard the words he had hoped not to hear for another few years. Marco Bodt stood in the middle of the crappy coffee shop on the campus of Trost University when a stranger called out the order he always avoided to place. He had just heard his soul words.  
Shocked, Marco made a beeline to the counter and said the first thing that came to his mind. “You’re.. urgh, you’re my soulmate,” he sounded annoyed.  
Marco hadn’t bothered to look up until now but when he did an amber eyed guy with bleached hair stared wide eyed at him. He was a bit smaller than Marco, had a slim face and pierced ears. The name tag on his green apron told Marco that the stranger’s name was Jean.  
Jean now slowly closed his mouth and blinked.  
“You sound disappointed,” he said bitterly and placed Marco’s cup in front of him.  
“Yeah, sorry,” Marco answered while scratching his head. He was nervous.  
“I ordered something else. I did not want to hear this sentence for another few years,”  
he picked the cup up, “I wanted to wait but now this happened.”  
Jean, who had nodded along as Marco explained was at least a little bit surprised when Marco muttered a ‘I need time’ before leaving the coffee shop in a hurry.

"What was that?" Hitch, his co-worker, asked slowly.  
She had curly blonde hair and quite an attitude.  
Jean turned to face her. He was frustrated because it was supposedly Hitch's fault that he said the soul words.  
"Apparently, that was my soulmate," he said angrily.  
Hitch raised an eyebrow, "Wow, you sound pissed. Why aren't you running after him, though?"  
"He said, he wasn't interested," Jean answered while grabbing the next cup and preparing the order scribbled on it. None of this was Hitch's business.  
Tears welled up in his eyes and he tried to blink them away.  
Jean had only just acquired his soulmate and already lost him.

 

Jean pulled his blanket over his head and flopped down onto his bed again. It was Sunday afternoon and while he had met his soulmate on Friday morning he hadn’t done anything about it yet.  
Except not mentioning it to any of his friends (Hitch did not count), locking himself in his dorm and mope.  
He had no idea how to deal with this mess of a situation.  
Hanging up "missing person"-posters all over university campus? He had quickly concluded not to do that.  
Just go back to work and wait for the freckled guy to show up again?  
Possible, but highly unlikely given his reaction.  
Find out his mayor and classes to wait in front of them? Definitely not. Jean was not a stalker.  
He wanted to pull his hair out.  
Furthermore, he needed a good battle plan. A "How-to-find-and-charm-Marco-plan".  
However, given his previous performance he desperately needed the help of a friend.  
The blond picked up his phone, scrolling through his contacts he made the decision to text Armin. They weren't that close but Armin would listen and most likely give the best advice.  
_To Armin:  
Hey mate, I need your help. _

_From Armin:_  
_Hello Jean. What's going on?_

 _To Armin:_  
_Hitch prob told everyone already but I met my soulmate at work._  
_Problem is, he ran away. How am I supposed to find him again?_

 _From Armin:_  
_She told us. Assuming you stayed in your dorm because of that I suggest you to go out and try to find him._

Of course Armin had noticed that he had stayed inside and made the right conclusion. Jean signed.

His phone chirped again..

 _From Armin:_  
_Please don't force yourself onto him, though. Consent is important and he ran away. I'm sure there's a explanation for that._

Jean sighed, it wasn't like he hadn’t thought about that.  
Marco was probably creeped out if he tried to track him down.

 _From Armin:_  
_You should talk to Connie and Sasha too. They worry about you. Everyone_ _does._

Truth be told, all Jean wanted was to avoid his friends further but deep in his heart he knew Armin had a point.

 _To Armin:_  
_I will. Thanks._

He opened their group chat and started to type:  
_Connie, Sash, I have to tell you something. It's about my soulmate. Subway at 6?_  
He hated how serious it sounded but send it anyways.  
Afterwards, he threw back his blanket and rose from the bed to tiptoe to the shower.  
When Jean left the bathroom again he had messages from his friends agreeing to the meet-up.  
That evening Jean Kirschstein told his best friends about his soulmate. However, no battle plan was made yet.

 

The following week Jean found himself talking to Sasha again because she wanted to know more. Sasha was astonishingly curious.  
“And you just let him leave?” she asked in disbelief. They were sitting in her dorm room. It was way nicer than Jean’s so they usually met there. Sasha was sitting on her bunk bed while Jean sat on her desk chair.  
“I was a bit too shocked for that,” Jean scoffed looking away from his friend.  
“Awwr, Jean-bo, don’t be so salty. Anyways, you should go find him!”  
JEan groaned, “I told you, I am trying to.”.  
A week had passed since he had met his soulmate and while he had kept his eyes open, he hadn’t been able to find Marco.  
“It can’t be too hard,” Sasha continued enthusiastically, her ponytail bouncing up and down, “You just have to find a tall, brown-haired guy named Marco, who has ‘Caramel frappuccino for Marco’ tattooed somewhere on his body. You also said he’s a student! Ask around, Jean”  
Sasha was one to talk, Jean decided. Her soulmate hadn’t straight out told her he wanted to study first.  
Sasha Braus met Connie Springer on their first day of elementary school. Their tattoos read ‘I like your hair’ and ‘I like your not-hair’. A joke about Jean crushing on Mikasa. Connie and Sasha have been best friends ever since.  
“I’ll ask Ymir,” Sasha announced suddenly, “You obviously want and also desperately need that guy in your life. Ymir knows everyone on campus!”  
Jean groaned again and buried his head in his hands. He wanted to whack Sasha with a pillow. Ymir would tease him relentlessly about needing help with his soulmate.  
The entire thing also seemed more stalker-ish with every passing minute. He really did not want to freak Marco out.  
Marco, who was tall and good-looking with big doe-like eyes and freckles covering his skin. Jean had it bad.  
Marco, who was apparently not interested in having a soulmate. Jean had spend years looking at his soulmark on his left forearm. The wording wasn’t that positive and it shouldn’t be a surprise that Marco had turned him away, yet it was frustrating. Jean desperately wanted to get to know him.  
“I’ll talk to him if Ymir finds him or I see him, okay?”, he offered Sasha and she nodded satisfied.  
With that promise Jean had at least a plan.

 

Jean’s second encounter with Marco wasn’t thanks to Sasha or Ymir. If he wanted to thank anyone it was Professor Zoe because they had assigned so much homework that Jean had to spend pretty much all of his time at the library.  
He found Marco while searching for a empty seat.  
The brown-haired student was hunched over several books spread out on a circular table; surrounded by the dark wooden book shelves ever present in the library. He was the only one occupying it.  
Jean took a deep breath, he had promised Sasha to talk to him. Marco wore a thick bright red jumper with a gingerbread man and glittery snowflakes on it. It was hideous, Jean concluded. His hair was mussed, he wore round reading glasses.  
“Is this seat taken?” Jean asked politely.  
Marco shook his head and didn’t acknowledge him further.  
The blond then dropped his belongings unceremoniously on the table.  
“Thanks”  
They worked in silence for less than half an hour before Jean mustered up the courage to talk.  
“Hey…,” he whispered. No response.  
“Marco?”  
His head shot up.  
The freckled student looked puzzled for a few seconds before he whispered hesitantly, “Jean?”  
He seemed to no longer be as angry as in the coffee shop; he seemed rather curious.  
“You know my name? Well, i know yours since it was part of the soul words,”Jean rambled, suddenly he looked shocked, “Fuck, Marco is your real name, right? Please tell me you haven’t got a name tattooed that isn’t yours because Hitch fucked up,” his voice had become faster towards the end, worry clear in it.  
And then Marco (or not Marco?) actually giggled.  
“It’s Marco, don’t worry,” he laughed, dimples appearing on his cheeks.  
After that the conversation flowed naturally. Marco asked Jean about his major - psychology - and his family. No siblings but he had a cat back home. Jean learned that Marco majored in english literature and had no less than three younger siblings.  
However, it wasn’t long until sun disappeared completely outside; both of them started to yawn. Jean was incredibly tired and after trying to suppress his yawns for about ten minutes he said goodbye to Marco and gathered his books and pens.  
The moment his bum hit the mattress Jean realised that he forgot to ask Marco for his phone number. Finding Marco again wouldn’t be easy.

 

Jean was working his usual afternoon shift at the coffee shop when the bell above the door chirmed. The blond looked up and saw Marco walking in. He was wearing a dark coat, a big brown scarf and a red bobble hat. His nose was red from the cold outside.  
He was fiddling with his hands as he approached the counter.  
“Hey Jean,” he said; smiling a nervous, uncertain smile.  
Jean wanted to reply but Marco cut him off by shaking his head.  
“I realized something; I was being stupid, Jean.” he exhaled deeply, “I assumed meeting my soulmate was a bad thing; something that would impact my performance at uni in a negative way.  
I thought about it Jean and i don’t think you’ll have a negative impact on my life,” Marco said, still fidgeting with his hands.  
“Do you maybe want to get coffee with me sometime soon?” he asked.  
At first Jean had been confused but his smile had only grown wider while Marco spoke.  
“Yes,” he breathed as he reached over the counter to hug Marco.  
That day Jean got his soulmate back and so much more.

One month later Marco whispered, “I’m glad you didn’t give up back then”, as he kissed Jean for the first time.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. If you find any mistakes regarding grammar, tenses or punctuation feel free to tell me; I'm not a native speaker.


End file.
